What our patients liked and disliked
most about Budapest, Hungary
DISCLAIMER: The clinic cannot take
responsibility for anything you do based on these comments.
You are strongly advised to check with the clinic if you
are in doubt.
September
2007
AM from Hertfordshire
By the way Budapest was fabulous - what a beautiful city, and so much to see & do! I've got my list of "still to see" ready and waiting for next trip over. Can't wait!
June 2007
Mrs F from Cork
Had a great time in Budapest, in spite of language difficulties.
Had a good meal in the Central market, sitting down,
not standing up! Also at terrific Vegetarian restaurant,
and several others. The thermal baths, Turkish baths
and all the pools on Margaret island were wonderful and
cheap; we went to lots of them. Flea market interesting,
worth a visit but very expensive unless you haggle a
lot! Millennium concert hall was marvellous, great auditoriums,
shop, coffee bar, restaurant, but language confusion
resulted in them selling us tickets for the wrong night.
Warning: if a Hungarian tells you he/she speaks a little English,
it’s true! Only a few can speak/understand enough
to communicate reliably!
We had trouble with metro inspectors on first morning
because we expected to find the ticket validation machines
in the
metro carriage, like the buses, and did not see them
on the platform. We offered them the unvalidated tickets,
but they demanded 5000 HUF fine and would not listen
to reason. We said we had just arrived, didn’t
see the machines (they were hidden in crowds of people),
couldn’t pay because we were on our way to exchange
money, told them to call police if they wanted. Waited
10 minutes, no police, so I just gave them my card, we
said goodbye and walked off. No repercussions so far!!
That was the only time we were ever approached about
tickets. But one poor Englishman behind us just paid
up obediently.
Later we were told by a Hungarian that
those inspectors have no power to insist on the fine,
they are just there to frighten you!
The next day I found out that all public transport
is free for pensioners;
all you have to do is show your passport or something
if requested, to confirm your age. It seems to
be a closely guarded secret, but it’s something
you might like to confirm and to tell your other
clients.
We travelled on buses, trams and metro
all the time, my daughter with the ticket that
she carefully validated after that first horrible
experience, and I with my passport and a bit of
paper saying "NYUGDIJAS
VAGYOK", but we only ever saw about
5 people putting their cards in the machines! Another
stupid thing happened on the last night, when we
ran out of tickets for the tram home, the flower-sellers
didn’t have any tickets and my poor daughter
had to walk halfway across the city to the Metro
station to buy a tram ticket!! All part of the
Budapest Experience!
We both enjoyed our trip and would like to go back to
Budapest, especially now that we’ve found out how
to do it!
COMMENT: We recommend
the 3 or 7-day travel card which you can purchase from
all metro stations; good value and no need to validate.
From all main metro stations. Note - free travel is for
the over 65s and you must carry your passport or identity
card otherwise you will be fined.
Patient Testimonials
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